


What We Don't Know is an Ocean

by mysteriousphoenix



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Telling secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:01:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28421382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysteriousphoenix/pseuds/mysteriousphoenix
Summary: Super late, I know, but here is my day 2 entry for Newtina Week!Prompt: Newt and Tina revealing their secrets to each other. “What we know is a drop, what we don’t know is an ocean.”
Relationships: Tina Goldstein/Newt Scamander
Comments: 10
Kudos: 51
Collections: Newtina Week 2020 #NewtinaWeek2020





	What We Don't Know is an Ocean

With a gesture of his hand, Newt invited Tina to join him on the wide lip of the stone wall. They were nestled deep in the basement menagerie and, after completing feeding rounds, they were alone and the creatures were beginning to settle in for the night. Tina knew it was getting late, but she didn’t want to go up to bed just yet. This thing with Newt was tentative and new, and if she was being honest with herself, she wanted to explore it. To see where it could lead.

With a self-conscious grin, Tina sat next to him, leaving just a few inches between them. Glancing sideways, she could see that Newt had noticed her proximity, there was a light dusting of color spreading over his cheeks and the corners of his lips had lifted into a small smile as he lifted his mug of tea to his lips. She wondered once more why they danced around each other, why, after almost two weeks, nothing more had been said about their letters, their apparent appreciation for each other, their awkward confessions and realizations discovered in the depths of the French Ministry. 

After years of distrust, rejection, and isolation, neither Newt nor Tina could quite believe that their feelings were not only appreciated but returned. It was completely new for both of them, and, Tina realized, they had no idea what to do next. As several seconds passed, she began to laugh softly. She gripped the warm ceramic tea mug in her hands, knowing that she was giving herself away. She needed to say something, though. It was time.

“What is it?” Newt asked, turning his head to watch her. She met his eyes, their curious, green depths so close to her own.

“Us,” Tina said, simply. She looked out over the expanse of the habitat in front of them. She had noticed that it was his favorite and that he tended to come here often after feeding rounds to drink his cup of tea. She looked back at him, a little nervousness creeping into her voice. “This is so awkward and it doesn’t need to be. We are being silly.”

“Oh,” Newt replied, a look of hurt flashing across his face as he slowly looked down at the nearly empty cup that he had rested on his knee, “I, um...I have heard that before. I’m so sorry, Tina…”

“No! No, not...not you,” she explained, one hand lifting to softly rest on his shoulder, “ _Us._ ” He glanced at her, the fringe hanging over his forehead was allowing him to hide from her. She didn’t like that. He didn’t need to hide from her, not ever. “You like me…”

“Yes.” A whisper.

“And I like you.” Newt looked at her squarely, his hopeful expression reminiscent of the one she had seen briefly two weeks ago when they had last spoken of their feelings. “I just...I don’t know what to do next. I’ve never done any of this before.” Tina’s voice trailed off as her nerves took over her brief surge of boldness. “I just needed you to know. You don’t have to be unsure.” 

Newt smiled timidly as he replied. “I am not very experienced either. I haven’t...I hoped that you would, that is to say…” He took a deep breath, then turned to set his mug on the wall behind him. He turned toward Tina again and took one of her hands in his own. His hand was warm and solid, the work-worn skin a contrast to her own. “Sorry. I want this...us...if you do. I just don’t want to mess it up.” He glanced down at their hands, his thumb whispering lightly over the skin on the back of her hand. “I know I’m not, you know…..very-”

“You’re wonderful,” Tina interrupted. She knew where his thoughts were going. The world had been just as unkind to Newt as it had been to her. He smiled and looked down, shaking his head. She squeezed his hand gently before emphasizing once more. “You _are_. We may not have spent all that much time together yet, but I know that you are one of the most interesting and kind people I have ever met.”

“Thank you, Tina.” Newt’s gaze traveled up to her own once more. He was still smiling. “I do want to do all of this right. I’m honestly not quite sure how to pursue someone who already knows that I am, well, very keen on them.” He chuckled lightly, leaning toward her slightly.

“You have done well so far.”

“Oh,” he blushed as he looked down to where his fingers were still brushing lightly over the back of her hand, “um, thank you.”

There was a pause in their conversation. Both looked out over the expanse of green land before them while Tina sipped at her tea. Setting it down beside her, she turned to look at Newt with determination.

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“What? I don’t…” Newt looked at Tina, his puzzlement evident in the way he turned his head and the lowering of his brows.

“About you,” Tina said, clarifying. “Tell me something I don’t know about you.”

“Oh. Um, okay. What would you like to know?” Newt seemed confused by the request and Tina realized that he had probably not come across someone who wanted to know about him before. At least not in quite a while.

“I just want to know you better.” Tina felt a little foolish, like she was playing a game, but she was determined to push this thing between them, whatever it was, forward. They had both admitted to being attracted to each other, they had spent months writing and pining after each other. Now they had the opportunity to talk and she didn’t want to waste the time they had, however long it might be. “I figured we know most of the big things about each other, but I want… I don’t know. I guess I want to know _you_. Does that make sense?” Tina felt her face flush with heat and she looked down, purposefully looking away from Newt. She felt him squeeze her hand lightly where it still rested between them.

“It does.” She looked up at him and found him smiling at her. “But only if you tell me about you as well.”

“Okay.” Tina linked her fingers through his where their hands rested on the cool stone between them. Newt’s smile widened as he watched her.

“I’m not sure where to begin…”

Tina looked out at the expanse before them. “Um….alright. How about this?” Tina asked as she pointed straight ahead. “Why do you like this spot so much? You spend a lot of time here.”

“Oh. It’s designed to look like my parent’s pastureland back home. It’s where I grew up, or….at least it’s supposed to look that way.”

Tina’s eyes widened slightly. “It’s beautiful.”

“It is,” he replied. “I loved growing up there. It was peaceful. Plenty of room to explore and hunt for creatures.” Tina watched as he looked ahead at the green pastureland and then back toward her. “There were some sparse woodland areas and we were close to the sea. It had a little bit of everything.”

“It sounds like a wonderful place to grow up.”

“It was. I had a very quiet childhood, which was very nice in some respects. It was a bit more interesting when Theseus would come home for the summer holiday, but...I spent most of my time just running around the countryside.”

Tina smiled and her heart warmed as she thought of a young Newt exploring the beaches and trees, looking for small creatures to study and nurse back to health. She could imagine hippogriffs flying above him, grazing, playing. It was a childhood that was very different from her own, though, she realized, probably a great deal more lonesome. 

“Your turn,” Newt said, pulling Tina from her thoughts.

“Um…” Tina thought for a moment before deciding what she would share. “I don’t miss New York, but I miss my apartment.” 

“Just your apartment?” Newt asked, surprised.

“Yeah. I like the city, but I think a city is a city. I liked Paris and I like London for many of the same reasons I liked New York. It wasn’t the city itself that made it feel like home, it was where I lived.” Newt nodded as he listened, realization crossing his features. “That apartment is where I made memories. It was home.”

“Will you go back if you are given the choice?” Tina could hear the nervousness in Newt’s voice as he asked, and she realized that there was hidden meaning in the question. She had been thinking about her answer for days.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “Not yet. There’s nothing for me there right now.”

“Except your apartment,” Newt quipped. Tina smiled.

“Except the apartment.” A beat passed before she continued. “I’ll probably have to give it up now. There’s no reason I should be paying for two places to live. I’ll have to find a place to live here while I work with your brother.”

“We’ll find you a flat, it shouldn’t take long.” Tina felt Newt slide his thumb along the heel of her palm, the work-worn skin a contrast to her own. 

Tina smiled as she looked up into Newt’s eyes, they were far more relaxed now that they had been talking for a while. As if he knew what she was thinking, his green eyes flicked down to meet hers and the corners of his mouth rose in a small, acknowledging smile. “Your turn.”

“I don’t like apples.”

“How do you not like apples?” Tina asked with a laugh.

Newt shrugged, “I don’t know. I’ll eat them if it’s all that is available, and I like them in pies, but raw apples are just...they are grainy. I don’t like them.” 

“Ahh.” Tina smiled. “Well, I hate peas. Always have.”

“Good to know,” Newt said with a chuckle.

“They’re mushy and very...green.” Tina scrunched her face, a look which, though intended to be silly, caught Newt off-guard. It was very _cute_ , and he couldn’t help but smile at her look of mock displeasure.

“Hmm...my turn.” Newt thought for a moment and then smiled as he thought of something. “I have, surprisingly, only broken three bones in my lifetime.” Tina raised an eyebrow in surprise but didn’t speak, inviting Newt to continue. “I fell out of a tree when I was six and shattered a bone in my arm. My mother fixed it, of course, but I required Skelegrow because she couldn’t get it to set correctly.” Newt shuddered absently, “I can still feel it when I think about it. It was a terrible experience. Breaking bones is actually a great fear of mine now.”

“What were the other two?” Tina asked, turning to face him and closing much of the distance that remained between them.

“Um, the second was during the War. I was training a dragon, working from a broom, and she got me with her tail. I was lucky that I only broke a rib that time. I had a wicked concussion, but that was the extent of it.” Newt smiled, amused, and said “The third was about a year ago, just before I met you. I was in Congo and observing a Tebo from a distance, but I missed another that had snuck up behind me, invisible. Naturally, it came after me.”

“Naturally…” Tina remarked.

“Got me in the shoulder before I was able to grab my wand and apparate out of there. I was able to heal my arm myself, thankfully. It wasn’t a bad break. More of an inconvenience because the herd of Tebo all disappeared and I wasn’t able to find them again.”

Of course, Newt would be more concerned about not observing creatures than a broken bone, Tina thought with a grin. She shook her head at him with a smirk. He shrugged in response, reading the expression on her face, and both began to giggle softly.

“What was your favorite place you saw on your travels?” Tina asked, but Newt put up a single finger to stop her.

“Ahh, not yet. You first. It’s your turn.”

“Oh, um…” Tina thought for a moment. “I don’t know how to swim.”

“Truly?” Newt asked in surprise.

“Nope,” Tina responded. “My Papa always wanted to teach me, but he never got the chance. From then on, it just wasn’t important. I never learned.”

Newt looked down at her, his eyes showing understanding and empathy, not pity as she had expected. She was grateful for that, and that he didn’t linger on the subject of her parents.

“America.”

“What?” Tina asked, confused.

“My favorite place I went on my travels. America.”

“Oh…”

“You see,” Newt said softly, “I think New Zealand and Morocco are beautiful, the history of China was fascinating, and nothing could beat the food in Thailand…” Newt turned his head so that he faced her fully, his face inches from her own, “but the ten days I spent in New York were the best ten days of my entire trip.” His eyes were watching her, steady and unfaltering.

Tina felt her cheeks flush in realization as he finished his statement. Newt, though he seemed a man of few words at first, was bold when he wanted to be. She knew what he was trying to say, and she smiled widely at the implication. “Well,” she said softly, matching his tone, “I must admit that I enjoyed your stay in New York far more than I ever thought possible.” 

Blinking slowly, Newt grinned at her words. These moments were new between them, and each time they openly spoke of their budding relationship he felt something in his chest flutter. If he wasn’t so aware of the anatomy of the human body, he would say that his heart was jumping for joy. The analogy he had read so many times finally made sense, though. It did feel that way, it seemed.

Reaching up with his free hand, Newt cupped Tina’s cheek and swiped his thumb along her jaw lightly. “You’re beautiful, Tina.”

They were very close together now. Closer than they had been in this context, and Tina could feel his breath on her cheek. “It’s not your turn,” she whispered.

Newt chuckled softly, his fingers pushing her hair back and away from her face. “That’s not a secret. It doesn’t count. You should know that already.” Tina smiled widely, and she felt her cheeks flush. It wasn’t often that she received compliments like that, and she could tell that Newt wasn’t just saying the words because that was what he was supposed to say. No man who compared her eyes to the eyes of a salamander cared about what society deemed a compliment of necessity. She knew that he meant it, and that made her feel more cared for than she had ever felt. 

She lifted her free hand up and looped it lightly over his shoulder. Her fingers danced along the seam of his shirt as she contemplated her next move. She wanted this. Him. Her head told her that things were too complicated right now and that they should be moving more slowly, but her heart was done waiting. They had told each other that they wanted to pursue this. Tina knew that he was just as attracted to her as she was to him. She watched her fingers on his shoulder for a moment as she decided, then in a moment of decision she ran her fingers further until her arm was wrapped around his neck, her fingertips brushing the soft hairs at his hairline. 

Newt closed his eyes at the contact and Tina felt like her stomach was doing somersaults in her abdomen. “It’s my turn,” she said softly. Newt hummed in response, then opened his eyes to watch her. The look on his face was one she had not seen before. His eyes were steadily looking at her now, something that she knew he found hard to do, and she couldn’t tell if he was afraid, overjoyed, or excited. His eyes were bright in the low light and she squeezed his hand lightly. “I wanted you to kiss me when you left New York.”

There. It was out in the open now. Newt’s eyes closed again, but this time a grin stretched across his face. “And I wanted to kiss you,” he whispered, running his thumb along her cheek again, “I just couldn’t yet. Not until I knew…”

“I know.” Tina did know. She hadn’t approached the subject before he left because it had only been a few days. She didn’t know if it would be reciprocated, and she had been scared of rejection. Of scaring Newt away. 

She felt him take a deep breath, shuddering slightly as he let it out slowly. He was nervous, tense, and she could see that he was just as tightly wound as she was right now. The fingers on the hand that held hers, now resting on his knee, interlaced with hers. “I still want to,” he stated. He looked at her, somewhat nervously, through the curls that fell across his forehead.

“I want you to.”

Her whispered phrase was all that it took. The nervous tension melted away slowly as Newt considered her. The hand on her cheek threaded through her hair and rested lightly on the back of her head. She mimicked his actions, running her fingers further into his own hair and leaning forward, ever so slightly. He leaned forward, their noses brushing as he paused for a moment to check that his advances were met with approval. Tina closed her eyes, the tip of her tongue darting out to lick her lips, and that was all he needed. He leaned in and Tina felt herself sinking into the kiss. 

It wasn’t passionate or long, but it was perfect. Newt tilted his head and his lips slid across hers, the angle allowing them to be closer. Tina hummed lightly, involuntarily, at the contact and she felt Newt smile. With one last short kiss, Newt pulled away slowly. His eyes opened and Tina felt her face stretching into a happy smile. 

“You are wonderful,” she said, running her fingers through his soft curls. “That was wonderful.”

“It was, wasn’t it?” Newt replied. “I think I’d like to do that again sometime if you would permit it.”

Tina laughed softly, grinning at him. “You can kiss me whenever you want to, you know.”

“Noted,” Newt said, his gaze darting from her eyes to her lips and back. He grinned, then slowly leaned in again. 

Tina happily met him halfway. 

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr! [@themysteriousphoenix ](https://themysteriousphoenix.tumblr.com/)


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